What are SpoFites' favorite books?

I've seen several references throughout various FPPs to sports-related readings recommended by members here. Just thought it'd be nice to have everyone jot down their favorites and have them in one place. I can start ... "Tales From the Dugout" by Mike Shannon. Purely anecdotal, but decent. But, see, I'd love to see what everyone would recommend, particularly stuff of more substance.

posted by littleLebowski at 10:55 PM - reply - flag:

Too many to list completely (and I have too many author-friends to sway me into becoming a pusher). I'll just throw in some darts in between... Baseball and Philosophy: Thinking Outside the Batter's Box by Eric Bronson.

posted by The Crafty Sousepaw at 11:15 PM - reply - flag:

I'm currently reading (and have almost finished) Feeding The Monster by Seth Mnookin. Shocker, I know. (but it is quite good)

posted by justgary at 02:25 AM - reply - flag:

Sporting book-wise, one of my favourites has to be Red Mist: Roy Keane and the Football Civil War. Non-sporting, anything by Robin Hobb, Neil Gaiman or Terry Pratchett is very readable.

posted by Fence at 04:31 AM - reply - flag:

"Summer of '49," David Halberstam; "North Dallas Forty," Peter Gent; "The Natural," Bernard Malamud; "Everybody's All-American," Frank Deford.

posted by The_Black_Hand at 05:55 AM - reply - flag:

I'm currently reading (and have almost finished) Feeding The Monster by Seth Mnookin. I finally read that cover to cover in December. It wasn't bad, at all, it just didn't tell me anything new.

posted by jerseygirl at 06:23 AM - reply - flag:

Eight Men Out by Eliot Asinof, Moneyball by Michael Lewis, and Ball Four by Jim Bouton top the list. All three changed my thinking about the game of baseball.

posted by rcade at 06:35 AM - reply - flag:

For anyone not familiar with or not comfortable with Sabermetrics, I really learned a lot from "Baseball Between the Numbers". Non-sports I'm reading "Zen and the Art if Motorcycle Maintenance". My reward for finishing it is "Choke" by Chuck Palahniuk and then Cormac McCarthy's "The Road".

posted by SummersEve at 07:17 AM - reply - flag:

I am between books right now as I try and decide what to read next. I keep a running tab of things as I read them on my personal website. Sport-related items on the list include:My Favourite Year edited by Nick HornbyAmong the Thugs by Bill BufordFever Pitch by Nick Hornby

posted by terrapin at 07:33 AM - reply - flag:

A Fan's Notes by Frederick Exley.

posted by Venicemenace at 07:41 AM - reply - flag:

"The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop." by Robert Coover is a terrific book, especially for the Strat-O-Matic generation. Outside of sports, I have never read anything that made me laugh out loud from cover to cover like P.J. O'Rourke's "Modern Manners." Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.

posted by The Crafty Sousepaw at 08:00 AM - reply - flag:

"The Game" by Ken Dryden, if we're talking sports books. I can't say I have a favorite non-sports book, but anything by Ian McEwan usually works.

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 08:02 AM - reply - flag:

"Missing Links" by Rick Reilly. Absolutely hysterical. I highly recommend it. I acutally found a signed copy at a used bookstore here in Lawrence.

posted by hawkguy at 09:11 AM - reply - flag:

These are all about topics that interest me, but they're also just great reads. In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle by Madeleine Blais: really, really good insight into the mindset of high school female athletes (at an interesting historical junction, as it turned out, but the author didn't know it at the time). The Last River by Todd Balf: a story about an expedition that came to a tragic end, and prompted a lot of questions within the world of adventure sports. Autumn Lightning by Dave Lowry: if you want to read a truly great "where it all came from" book about Japanese martial arts, this would be the one. Lowry intersperses his personal experiences as a teenaged American going through an experience that's very much outside his normal experience -- learning a traditional style of kenjutsu -- with historical anecdotes of the style he studies. Every Crushing Stroke by Scott Shipley: the bulk of this book is a training manual for whitewater kayakers, and of damn little interest to anyone else, but the first section talks about Shipley's personal experiences as a competitive athlete in a sport where there's no money and no glory. His account of the pre-processing for his first Olympics is hilarious. Whatever It Takes: Women on Women's Sports, ed. Joli Sandoz and Joby Winans: just great stuff. Read about how the other half plays. Game Face, Jane Gottesman: I love good sports photography.

posted by lil_brown_bat at 09:18 AM - reply - flag:

I love good sports photography. A bit off topic, and I don't mean to treat this like a link dump, but I thought this was pretty cool (despite being a blatant sales tool).

posted by The Crafty Sousepaw at 09:35 AM - reply - flag:

Regarding good sports books, some previous recommendations made by SpoFites.

posted by smithers at 09:36 AM - reply - flag:

How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization North Dallas Forty I Am Third Throwing Heat Landry-The Legend-The Legacy

posted by Texan_lost_in_NY at 10:37 AM - reply - flag:

I'm going with George Plimpton again. If you haven't read his stuff, do it now. You will not be disappointed. He was everybody's favorite last-string player. I just ordered Watching Baseball Smarter from Amazon. Has anybody else here read it yet? Another great read is Wrecking Crew by John Albert. It's about ruined lives and how they found redemption through playing baseball in a Los Angeles rec league. It's hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking. I think they might be making a movie of it. It's one of those stories that really sticks with you. On the non-sports front, read anything and everything by Ed Sanders and Michael Muhammad Knight.

posted by NoMich at 10:45 AM - reply - flag:

Oh yeah...how could I have forgotten Friday Night Lights?

posted by lil_brown_bat at 11:03 AM - reply - flag:

Sports: The New Bill James Baseball Historical Abstract If you follow baseball at all, you MUST read this book. It isn't just stats and lists. It's the history of the game and those that played it. Non-Sports: World War Z How mankind fought and survived the zombie war.

posted by grum@work at 11:23 AM - reply - flag:

How mankind fought and survived the zombie war. It's over? The Hall of Fame's Baseball As America companion tome would make my highlight shelf even if my name weren't in the Acknowledgements. (Man. That was shameless and disgusting. Even for me.)

posted by The Crafty Sousepaw at 12:02 PM - reply - flag:

Can you guys help me remember the book(s) I read when I was a young teen? I'm pretty sure it was fictional. It was about a baseball player who started off as a pitcher who is also a good hitter and helps his team win the pennant (maybe even the WS). Somehow he injures his throwing arm and is unable to throw curve balls. He moves into the outfield where he does well until his hitting goes into a slump. He then retires or something and goes back home (a farm I think). He practices his swing and eventually gets back into the game. Sports book I can remember: Marty Brodeur's In the Crease. I liked it a lot, but then again, I am a little partial. Non-Sports: Anything by J.D. Salinger and Jack London. I enjoy reading Clive Barker but his stories give me nightmares.

posted by MrFrisby at 12:10 PM - reply - flag:

I finally read that cover to cover in December. It wasn't bad, at all, it just didn't tell me anything new. There was no shockers in the book, but lots of little details that he got because of his access to the team. Of course, in florida we don't get the same coverage as fans get in boston. I do wish he would have skipped the early history of the sox and started with the new ownership.

posted by justgary at 12:31 PM - reply - flag:

Outside of sports, I have never read anything that made me laugh out loud from cover to cover like P.J. O'Rourke's "Modern Manners." Paraphrasing from memory: "It is always considered bad form to tie your partner up during sex, then leave them to find someone more attractive." You should also try (if you haven't already) "Parliament of Whores" and "Give War a Chance." I don't agree with his politics much, but damn he's funny. More non-sports: absolutely anything by Carl Hiassen. He makes me laugh out loud, usually at least once a chapter. And, back to sports one more time: in case you haven't had enough of Red Sox - Yankees, there's always "Blood Feud: The Red Sox, the Yankees, and the Struggle of Good versus Evil." Unabashedly Sox-centric, but still a fun read, with history on both sides of the rivalry going back decades.

posted by The_Black_Hand at 01:17 PM - reply - flag:

Non-Sports: Anything by J.D. Salinger and Jack London. I second the Jack London mention if only for White Fang and Call of the Wild.

posted by NoMich at 01:32 PM - reply - flag:

The Hall of Fame's Baseball As America companion tome would make my highlight shelf even if my name weren't in the Acknowledgements. Whaaaaaaaaaat? Please to explain.

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 01:46 PM - reply - flag:

For sports books, recently I read "Racers" which is the story of Damon Hill, Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve during JV's first season in F1. My favourite sports read though was probably "Dinamo" the story of Ukrainian footballers during the Nazi Occupation of Kiev. They had been members of the famous Dinamo Kyiv football teams - one of the best in Europe at the time - and they were relaunched as FC Start, with 8 Dinamo players and 3 from Lokomotiv Kyiv. FC Start played and beat two German Army teams, then defeated a Hungarian team twice, before being put forward to face a Luftwaffe team, Flak Elf, in a game that got much press, because the Germans were confident of defeating Start. Start won 5-1, then won a return game played just three days later. After winning again, 8-0, the team were arrested by the Gestapo, tortured, (to death in one case), and the remaining players were sent to a concentration camp, where some of the surviving members eventually faced a firing squad. This monument remains outside of Dinamo's stadium as a tribute to the members of FC Start.

posted by Mr Bismarck at 01:57 PM - reply - flag:

Can you guys help me remember the book(s) I read when I was a young teen? Judy Blume? ...even if my name weren't in the Acknowledgements. I believe the acknowledgment is something along the lines of: And to the Artist Formerly Known as BPP, thank you for finally stopping your harrassing phone calls. It's just too bad it took seven letters from our lawyers.

posted by SummersEve at 02:12 PM - reply - flag:

Sports book I can remember: Marty Brodeur's In the Crease. /smacks forehead Doh! The name of that book is actually, "Brodeur: Beyond the Crease". "The Game" by Ken Dryden I keep hearing about that book, I'm going to have to order it. Out of curiosity, I might buy something by Stan Fischler too.

posted by MrFrisby at 02:38 PM - reply - flag:

Right, Marty Brodeur's In the Crease was a movie on Cinemax.

posted by yerfatma at 03:06 PM - reply - flag:

Please to explain. I wrote my name in the book. Don't ask me why I know they're called "Acknowledgements." Oh, wait. Yep, it's written at the top of the page.

posted by The Crafty Sousepaw at 03:41 PM - reply - flag:

The Damned Utd, by David Peace, a fictional, but minutely researched stream of consciousness account of the great Brian Cloughs 40 days at Leeds Utd, is destined to become a classic. Train by Peter Dexter is utterly brilliant, and, non sporting, Steve Hamilton writes highly readable thrillers with an ex baseball catcher as hero.

posted by Fat Buddha at 03:56 PM - reply - flag:

I don't have time to make a book suggestion just yet, but would it be out of order to drop a seperate note in the suggestion box? Howsabout we put these reading lists on the SpoFi Wiki along with user reviews? Just a thought.

posted by lilnemo at 04:05 PM - reply - flag:

posted by grum@work at 04:49 PM - reply - flag:

Football: "Football Against the Enemy" by Simon Kuper. Better, easier to read, less academic and more amusing than "The Ball is Round" by David Goldblatt. And both are better than Franklin Foer's "How Soccer Explains the World", although that's OK at a pinch. All cover the same territory - football history, society and politics. A rare, out of print but still occasionally available social and political history of Australian Rules Football "Up Where Cazaly?" by Ian Turner and Leonie Sandercock (1981) is a bit dry but gives a good picture of the game before too much money and professionalism took over. This non-American also found Steve Rushin's "Road Swing" to be very, very funny as both travelogue and social commentary on sport in the US.

posted by owlhouse at 05:40 PM - reply - flag:

Right, Marty Brodeur's In the Crease was a movie on Cinemax. didn't Marty's sister-in-law star in that one?

posted by goddam at 07:24 PM - reply - flag:

I listed my favorite hockey and baseball books on my blog a while back.

posted by kickerofelves at 07:34 AM - reply - flag:

Thanks for the tip, lilnemo. I wasn't even aware we had a wiki :) I added my userpage which includes the sport-related books I have read recently. It looks like images are turned off though as I couldn't get one to display.

posted by terrapin at 07:56 AM - reply - flag:

It looks like images are turned off though as I couldn't get one to display. Which is probably for the best ;)

posted by terrapin at 07:59 AM - reply - flag:

OOps. The wiki is already being spammed... I just edited out some male enhancement-related spam.... unless yerfatma meant that to be there.

posted by terrapin at 08:08 AM - reply - flag:

Ah, thanks kickerofelves: your blog was one of the ones to which bloglines lost my subscription. Just re-added.

posted by yerfatma at 08:11 AM - reply - flag:

Can i post a link saying " What is SportsFilter's favorite movies"?

posted by TelamarketersBeware at 11:31 AM - reply - flag:

You can only post Locker Room threads after you've accomplished the standard initiation rite. You must dress in Garanimals and immerse yourself in a bathtub of melted cheese. If you do not have a bathtub, one will be provided for you. You must then post a video of the feat on YouTube and link it here. Hey, it's not fun, but we've all done it. By the way, I don't recommend muenster.

posted by The Crafty Sousepaw at 11:46 AM - reply - flag:

Can i post a link saying " What is SportsFilter's favorite movies"? Only if you want to get your mom fired from her English teaching duties.

posted by yerfatma at 11:47 AM - reply - flag:

How about "What are SportsFilters' favorite movies"?

posted by TelamarketersBeware at 12:00 PM - reply - flag:

How about "What are SportsFilters' favorite movies"? Sportsfilter is a website. It doesn't have a mind. It can't have favorites. This thread is titled "What are SpoFites' favorite books?" SpoFites (or SportFiltertarians, or SportFilterans, et cetera, et cetera ad nauseum) are the members of the community can therefore have favorites.

posted by terrapin at 01:25 PM - reply - flag:

SportsFiltafarians.

posted by lil_brown_bat at 02:07 PM - reply - flag:

SportsFiltafarians That's what I intended to type, and I believe I have used the term here in the past.

posted by terrapin at 04:03 PM - reply - flag:

Sportsfilters' favorite movies are "Weekend at Bernies" and "8 Heads in a Duffel Bag"

posted by SummersEve at 04:06 PM - reply - flag:

Crafty told me they were "Bring it On" and "Drumline". He even sent me copies so I could watch them over and over and memorize all of the lines.

posted by MrFrisby at 04:24 PM - reply - flag:

I preferr "Howard the Duck" and "Snakes on a Plane."

posted by hawkguy at 04:28 PM - reply - flag:

I got the impression it was "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."

posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 04:40 PM - reply - flag:

I'm pretty damn sure it was "Red Dawn". WOLVERINES! (I'd link to the (in)famous one-man real-time review of the movie, but I can't search the Lockerroom for it.)

posted by grum@work at 05:02 PM - reply - flag:

I wanted to do the same so I could find the thread with all the Monty Python quotes.

posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 05:22 PM - reply - flag:

"He must be the King...he 'asn't got shit all over him."

posted by hawkguy at 06:08 PM - reply - flag:

"'Elp, 'elp, I'm bein' repressed!"

posted by The_Black_Hand at 06:34 PM - reply - flag:

It was absolutely Red Dawn, as mst3k'd by yerfatma.

posted by lil_brown_bat at 07:34 PM - reply - flag:

From what I have seen since I have been here, I would say it rates like this: 1. Red Dawn 2. Monty Python and the Holy Grail 3. The Big Lebowski

posted by MrFrisby at 08:44 PM - reply - flag:

My 3 favorite books: Catch 22 Fahrenheit 451 Strangers in a Strange Land Favorite movies: Of recent vintage, Master and Commander, The Far Side of the World. This is acknowledged by a lot of experts to be a very accurate portrayal of life on an 18th century warship. Of more distant vintage, Young Frankenstein. Gene Wilder and Marty Feldman were completely in synch with each other, and Teri Garr was excellent. Blazing Saddles is also right up there. Again, there's great chemistry between Gene Wilder and Cleavon Little. Alex Karas was great as Mongo. Another good Alex Karas role was in Victor Victoria. This one is more subtle, but delivers some thoughtful comedy. Blake Edwards's hand shows through.

posted by Howard_T at 09:54 PM - reply - flag:

Baseball and Philosophy: Thinking Outside the Batter's Box by Eric Bronson. Excellent choice, oh Crafty one. It is one of the few non-Tom Clancy books (the real one not that ruddy faced cherub that did NY recently) I could get him to read. When it comes to non-sports book I would higly recommend anything by Chuck Klosterman. He writes some stuff about basketball but most of it is about the rock and/or roll music. Killing Yourself to live was a winner.

posted by HATER 187 at 09:56 PM - reply - flag:

Blazing Saddles is also right up there. One of the classics. Candygram for Mongo, candygram for Mongo!

posted by jojomfd1 at 10:08 PM - reply - flag:

And The Hunt for Red October.

posted by Mr Bismarck at 05:20 AM - reply - flag:

1. Red Dawn 2. Monty Python and the Holy Grail 3. The Big Lebowski 4. Anchor Man and/or Talladega Nights

posted by SummersEve at 05:39 AM - reply - flag:

This is acknowledged by a lot of experts to be a very accurate portrayal of life on an 18th century warship. But not that accurate a portrayal of the Patrick O'Brian books (obsessive here). I liked the movie just fine, but the books . . . there's a set of books for a sports fan: fighting, screwing, back-stabbing, triumph, tragedy . . . it's like baseball in the 70s. Netflix highlights in the past year for me: Kontroll, Charade, The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3, Foyle's War (TV), Veronica Mars (TV) It's been a terrible year or two book-wise for me, but I'm with Hater on Chuck Klosterman and can also recommend How Proust Can Change Your Life. I've just started Rising Tide on my dad's recommendation and it looks like it may turn my bad book run around.

posted by yerfatma at 06:13 AM - reply - flag:

I second 'Among The Thugs' and 'Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer' (if you're interested in fan psychology) and 'Moneyball' if you're interested in the irrationality of management- sports or otherwise. Feinstein's 'A Season On The Brink' is probably worth reading for any sports fan; his 'A March To Madness' is definitely worth a read if you're an obsessive college basketball fan, but if not, probably worth passing. Things I don't recommend: * Faithful, by Stephen King and some other dude. I'd figured that if anyone could capture the madness of the Yankees-Sox ALCS, it would be those guys, but nope, they failed. Still looking for that. * Feinstein's The Last Amateurs. I wanted to like it, I really did, but god... it was dull. * To Hate Like This is To Be Happy Forever. Could have been great if it weren't so autobiographical. The stuff about other people is very interesting; the stuff about the author and his family alternates between merely dull and completely uninteresting.

posted by tieguy at 07:06 AM - reply - flag:

Strangers in a Strange Land Is this an old sci-fi book with the main character named Michael Valentine? To Hate Like This is To Be Happy Forever. Could have been great if it weren't so autobiographical. The stuff about other people is very interesting; the stuff about the author and his family alternates between merely dull and completely uninteresting. Thanks for the review on that one. My wife and in-laws are either Carolina grads or just huge fans of them (her mom and stepdad have season tix to football and basketball). I've been meaning to get someone that book for xmas, but maybe I'll hold off on that.

posted by NoMich at 07:54 AM - reply - flag:

How can Caddyshack not be in the top three? "Nice hat. Did it come with a free bowl of soup? Looks good on you, though."

posted by hawkguy at 09:00 AM - reply - flag:

"I hear this club is exclusive, so Wang, don't tell them you're Jewish." I would also add Slapshot and Anchorman to the top of the Spofitarians film list. And it is criminal to think that we can't find yerfatma's disertation on Red Dawn. Criminal.

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 09:10 AM - reply - flag:

* Feinstein's The Last Amateurs. I wanted to like it, I really did, but god... it was dull. I really liked this book since its story of Patriot League basketball resonated in a very strong way with what Canadian university basketball is like. But I can see how it would be considered dull (particularly in comparison to some of his other books) if you didn't have that kind of personal stake.

posted by smithers at 09:12 AM - reply - flag:

And it is criminal to think that we can't find yerfatma's disertation on Red Dawn. Criminal. I was under the impression that it is part of the "lost" lockerroom archives.

posted by MrFrisby at 09:32 AM - reply - flag:

Bears. Beets. Battlestar Gallactica.

posted by jerseygirl at 10:17 AM - reply - flag:

NoMich, your Carolina fan family will probably like To Hate... better than tieguy and I did. They'll be able to weather the dull parts better because the author is writing from their perspective on the rivalry. Personally, this is the only book that I have ever thrown across the room. And yes, Last Amateurs suffers in comparison to March to Madness and Season on the Brink in that the athletes and coaches and fans just aren't as notable. Everyone can picture a Bob Knight tirade....but can you picture the coach from Lehigh? I still read it and every other basketball book Feinstein has written (The Punch) though.

posted by mbd1 at 11:15 AM - reply - flag:

Caddyshack, Hoosiers, 3, and Happy Gilmore are some of my favorites.

posted by TelamarketersBeware at 11:18 AM - reply - flag:

As far as movies go: Thumbsucker I Heart Huckabees Big Lebowski (of course) Donnie Darko Momento Anything Mel Brooks (except that awful Dracula movie) Vulgar

posted by HATER 187 at 11:19 AM - reply - flag:

Movies...sports ones that is... Downhill Racer. Good story well-told and with some race footage that still looks gnarly today. Major League. A League of Their Own, despite the sad irony of the title. Love and Basketball. Caddyshack is a great movie, but I don't think of it as a sports movie. It's a working-at-a-resort movie, which I can appreciate, but it's not a sports movie.

posted by lil_brown_bat at 12:18 PM - reply - flag:

nomich: yeah, I didn't bother to add that it was not just boring but spiteful and grating to my Duke ears; to Carolina ears the spiteful and grating will probably make it at least a little entertaining, instead of rubbing salt in the wounds of the boredom. More neutrally, if they are into the history of basketball in the Triangle, I can strongly recommend Four Corners: How UNC, N.C. State, Duke, and Wake Forest Made North Carolina the Center of the Basketball Universe. It is probably not for the casual fan who only watches Duke-Carolina every year, but if they are the types of folks who watch every ACC basketball game they can, then they will absolutely love Four Corners. (More generally, it is a must-read for anyone who is a fan of college basketball history. I didn't recommend it on my first list because I figure there aren't many readers here who fall into that category :) mbd1: have you read 'Tobacco Road' yet, by Featherston? I have it on my shelf for summer reading but after last season and G's departure (fire alleva now) my appetite for things basketball is temporarily diminished.

posted by tieguy at 12:27 PM - reply - flag:

I didn't recommend it on my first list because I figure there aren't many readers here who fall into that category :) I do, I am a big Duke fan. However, i will watch any team in the ACC play. : D

posted by TelamarketersBeware at 12:47 PM - reply - flag:

Non-Sports Movies With Memorable Sports Related Moments: Amelie, American History X, American Pie, Animal House, Better Off Dead, Caddyshack (going by LBB's definition), Diner, The Dinner Game, Fletch, Funny Farm, The Naked Gun, The Princess Bride, Real Genius, Sling Blade, Stripes, Stuck On You, Swingers, Volunteers, Welcome to Mooseport. Not even close to exhaustive. Probably don't have top five in there. That's just off the top of my head.

posted by The Crafty Sousepaw at 01:02 PM - reply - flag:

If you enjoy the ACC, Tela, you should definitely read Four Corners. (I'm also looking forward to finally reading Friday Night Lights this summer.)

posted by tieguy at 01:59 PM - reply - flag:

My girlfriend got me a signed copy of Four Corners for my birthday one year. I haven't read Featherston's book yet. I'll get to it at some point, and probably finish it off in two evenings. I'm not sure it covers any new territory on the topic, but Featherston's writing is excellent. Oh man - things are kinda messed up at the top of my two favorite athletic departments (Duke and Arkansas). Someone has parked firejoealleva.com for now, but yeah - I'm done with him. Not that I have any influence on it, but letting G go was the last straw. The football debacle would be grounds enough at most schools, the lax situation on top of that should have done it, and the G saga...I guess you only need one person in your corner if that person carries a big enough stick.

posted by mbd1 at 02:03 PM - reply - flag:

Yowch. As much as I think Joe should go, the situation at Arkansas is spectacularly crazy. A whole different level. You should do a FPP on it.

posted by tieguy at 02:44 PM - reply - flag:

I shall looky into it tieguy. Thanks for mentioning it.

posted by TelamarketersBeware at 03:42 PM - reply - flag:

If someone gives you 10,000-to-1 on anything you take it. If John Mellencamp ever wins an Oscar I am going to be a very rich dude.

posted by SummersEve at 04:30 PM - reply - flag:

Fuck it dude, lets go bowling.

posted by Fat Buddha at 05:20 PM - reply - flag:

Lord, beer me strength.

posted by jerseygirl at 05:32 PM - reply - flag:

If someone gives you 10,000-to-1 on anything you take it. What about a million to juan?

posted by Ufez Jones at 05:38 PM - reply - flag:

My favorite sports movie would probably be Major League even though I haven't seen it from beginning to end. Favorite movie period is a toss up between Braveheart and The Matrix.

posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 07:47 PM - reply - flag:

Favorite Sports movie: Youngblood Favorite of all time: Ninja Scroll (Anime) If I had to pick a live action: Pulp Fiction

posted by MrFrisby at 07:57 PM - reply - flag:

Is this an old sci-fi book with the main character named Michael Valentine? NoMich, it is indeed science fiction by Robert A. Heinlein. The main character's name was Valentine Michael Smith. There is a lot in between the lines. Yerfatma, I have never read any of the Robert O'Brian books, so I don't know how well the movie follows them.

posted by Howard_T at 08:07 PM - reply - flag:

Patrick O'Brian, goddamnit. And I hated Stranger in a Strange Land!

posted by yerfatma at 08:23 PM - reply - flag:

MrFrisby: Favorite of all time: Ninja Scroll (Anime) But only the subtitled version. Good gory fun. If I had to pick a live action: Pulp Fiction Looky at this.

posted by lil_brown_bat at 09:53 PM - reply - flag:

Oh my god, yerfatma, I was scrolling down the page and you read my mind. Very weird.

posted by smithers at 10:10 PM - reply - flag:

Non-Sports Movies With Memorable Sports Related Moments... off the top of my head i would have to add M*A*S*H and Strange Brew.

posted by goddam at 12:40 AM - reply - flag:

Adding to my list: Slapshot Mystery, Alaska And yeah, we should wiki all this. Perhaps if the weekend gets rained out, I'll take a whack at it.

posted by lil_brown_bat at 08:02 AM - reply - flag:

Original version of The Longest Yard.

posted by terrapin at 09:49 AM - reply - flag:

How could we get this far without anyone mentioning the best baseball move ever made: I believe in the Church of Baseball. ... I know things. For instance, there are 108 beads in a Catholic rosary and there are 108 stitches in a baseball. When I heard that, I gave Jesus a chance. But it just didn't work out between us. The Lord laid too much guilt on me. or I believe in the soul, the cock, the pussy, the small of a woman's back, the hanging curve ball, high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap. I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. I believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter. I believe in the sweet spot, soft-core pornography, opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve and I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days. ... Goodnight. Probably tied with Slapshot as best sports movie ever made. Field of Dreams is up there too, but it makes me cry so I can only watch it alone.

posted by SummersEve at 09:54 AM - reply - flag:

There are other sports movies besides Bull Durham?

posted by tieguy at 12:58 PM - reply - flag:

Does anyone remember Gran' Prix? It was a Cinerama thing from the '60s. The plot was corny, but there were some great racing scenes from the days when they actually raced cars, not engines on frames and wheels.

posted by Howard_T at 02:19 PM - reply - flag:

How could I forget Death Race 2000.

posted by tieguy at 07:00 PM - reply - flag:

Weed.

posted by NoMich at 08:16 PM - reply - flag:

In case anyone is reading this thread still, I have added a section to the wiki for the books mentioned in this thread. I have included links to Amazon using rcade's Amazon affiliates code so that if anyone buys a book via that link SportsFilter will get a little revenue. The exception was kickerofelves, who linked to his website and had his own Amazon affiliates code. So I left those to be fair. I missed some of the books either because my amazon searhes didn't return a good result or I just plained missed it. This was a long and tiring addition :) Feel free to add to the wiki, especially this page.

posted by terrapin at 12:40 PM - reply - flag:

I have included links to Amazon using rcade's Amazon affiliates code so that if anyone buys a book via that link SportsFilter will get a little revenue. Awe man, I wish I would have known you were going to do that. I ordered The Game by Ken Dryden last week. I just picked it up at the post office today on my lunch break.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

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